Apple has been spilling the beans on its new iOS 6 update for iPhone, but we at NokNok found a number of the supposedly new features to be far from original. Join as we take a look at the ways in which Apple appears to be playing catch-up in the smartphone platform wars.

As our friends over on WMPoweruser pointed out recently, many of iOS 6’s key new features aren’t particularly new at all. In fact, in many cases Windows Phone 7.5 has either got there first or already offered a superior solution!

Here are some of the main examples that we could spot.

Facebook integration

Apple went to great lengths to discuss this bold new feature for iOS 6 – deep Facebook integration. This will mean that you can share to Facebook from within the OS without having to open up a dedicated Facebook app.

Except, of course, that Windows Phone 7 has sported such a feature since its release about a year and a half ago, and was improved yet further with the launch of the Windows Phone 7.5 update nine months ago!

Open apps by voice

The much vaunted Siri voice-control app that sits at the heart of the current version of iOS on iPhone is about to be improved for iOS 6. You’ll know be able to literally tell your iPhone to open up first and third party apps. That’s great, but did you realise that Windows Phone 7.5 on your Nokia Lumia phone can do this already? Just hold the Home button for a second or two, then say “Open…” followed by the name of the app you’re after. Hey presto!

Video calling over mobile network

Another feature Apple spoke about in its iOS 6 reveal was its video calling app, FaceTime. The new version will finally allow iPhone users to make such calls over a mobile network, rather than limiting them to just Wi-Fi. This really isn’t a new feature at all – the likes of Tango and especially Skype have allowed Windows Phone users – not to mention those on other platforms – to do this for quite some time.

Of course, the Windows Phone Skype app is the best of the lot (Microsoft owns Skype, after all), and it’s only set to get better.

Prioritising important contacts

iOS 6 will allow you to prioritise emails according to VIP contacts. It’s a nice feature, but it doesn’t go anywhere near as far as Windows Phone, which lets you create a tile for your top contacts and pin it to your star menu. You can then group text or group email to all of them, or go through to the individual contacts and check out your message history with them.

Free turn-by-turn navigation

Arguably the biggest new feature of iOS 6 is Apple’s new bespoke map app, along with free turn-by-turn navigation. That’s all well and good, but Nokia Lumia owners have had Nokia Drive from the off. This isn’t just free turn-by-turn navigation, it’s also offline so you can preload all your maps. In our view, that’s an essential part of any would-be sat nav replacement. Apple’s definitely behind the game – at least Nokia’s game – with this one.

Are there any other features of iOS 6 that seem familiar to you? Let us know in the comments section below.